The Indexes

The Author-Title index records individuals with initials only, and gives the main entry word (in parentheses) for all added entries, to make it easier to identify the entry in the main sequence. Reference is by volume and pamphlet number (thus Rare/5 is pamphlet number 5 in the Rare volume) and duplicate copies are listed together (e.g. 30/3, 30/8, 67/9). Two apparently identical entries with different reference numbers refer to distinct items with identical titles, e.g. 'New Zealand (Stout, R.)', where there are two separate items by Sir Robert, both with the title 'New Zealand'. We have been fairly generous in making added entries for editors, institutional publishers and similar associated persons.

The Subject index has been prepared according to standard cataloguing principles, using as authority the Library of Congress Subject headings (LC), with certain modifications. For distinctively New Zealand topics the pre-1982 practice of the New Zealand national bibliography (NZNB) has been followed, particularly for period subdivisions and subdivisions under 'Maoris'. A number of other headings diverge from LC practice, or have been added to page x their lists. British spelling ('Labour' not 'Labor') is used throughout. The divergences from LC fall into the following groups (NZNB headings are asterisked):

1.	The British, or New Zealand, term is used instead of the American: Accountancy (as a main heading) *Railways Building and loan societies *Scots Chambers of commerce Shopping hours *Companies/Company... *Tramways (for Corporation...)
2.	Terms, sometimes distinctive to New Zealand, are introduced for topics not occurring in LC: Australian federation Political societies Land claims Positivists Land settlement companies Prospectuses, Publishers' Maori-European relations Sheep stealing Partial impact theory Sunday schools, Secular
3.	Compound headings, created from terms used by LC, are introduced for topics not occurring in LC: Clergymen as criminals Secularism and politics Free thought and the press Women in moral education
4.	Subdivisions are introduced under LC headings for topics or types of material not occurring in LC, or are applied to different headings: (Books -) Specimen pages (Examinations -) Results (Maoris -) Land - Confiscations (Maoris -) Land - European purchases (Maoris -) Land titles (N.Z. - Constitutional history -) Abolition of provinces (University of New Zealand -) Government (Women -) Refuges and asylums
5.	Period subdivisions are introduced where LC has not used them, though the option may exist, or are used in closer divisions than in LC: Gt Brit. - Politics and government - 1868-1901 Gt Brit. - Social conditions - 1815-1914 N.Z. - Economic conditions - 1876-1889 N.Z. - Economic conditions - 1890-1920
6.	Certain geographic headings are used in a different form from that in LC: Hawaiian Islands (referring to the period of independence before the formal annexation of what is now the State of Hawaii)page xi *South Africa (used for the territories now forming part of the Republic of South Africa, and distinct from 'Africa, South' which would include territories never a political part of South Africa)
7.	Headings for certain corporate bodies are used in an abbreviated form, although the formal name is longer: Oddfellows Rechabites The Treaty of Waitangi, 1840 is entered in that form, not inverted.
8.	Some headings used by LC as topics are here used as form headings. 'Periodicals' and 'Fiction' are examples. The subdivision 'Societies, etc.' is used as in LC's pre-1971 usage for the publications of societies devoted to a specific subject. 'College periodicals' is used instead of LC's 'College and school periodicals' because there are no examples of school periodicals. 'Land' is used as a main heading, for works covering a variety of aspects, as was LC's practice before 1976. 'Verse' has been used as a form heading rather than 'Poetry'.

As in the Author-Title index, reference is by volume and pamphlet number, and duplicate copies are listed together. We have been very generous with 'see' and 'see also' references, spelling out all relevant occurrences rather than using generic references. Under countries and regions we have included references to all geographic localities within those regions (e.g. 'Australia - see also New South Wales', 'New South Wales - see also Sydney'). This undoubtedly bulks out the subject index but its usefulness has been proved in the working catalogue of the J.C. Beaglehole Room and it should be helpful to the non-New Zealand user of the catalogue who may not be familiar with such localities as the Ruahine Range or Tuapeka.